The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) licenses all child care programs in Massachusetts. Read more about licensing requirements

This map shows the change of Early Childhood Education (ECE) care providers during select years in the COVID-19 pandemic: 2019-2022. Select the data layers in the top right corner to see individual provider openings and closures or aggregate change in capacity by neighborhood. The data covers the city of Boston.

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Facts:

• The highest number of the ECE providers (284) licensed in Metro Boston showed in 2020. In the same year, 28 were licensed in the City of Boston.
• Most of the ECE providers (70%) in the City of Boston were licensed since 2001. From 2001 to 2010, the number was 164, and from 2011 to 2020, the number was 188.
• Percentage of Large Group and School Age Child Care provider type in the City of Boston (average 34.6%): Dorchester (17.5%), Mattapan (22%), Roxbury (39.1%). The other type is Family Child Care.

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Map Tips:

• Click on the dot to learn the ECE center, its seat capacity, and its address.
• Select specific year (slider) to see changes in licensed providers by year.
• The change in seat capacity by neighborhood layer shows changes from the previous year to the selected year (i.e., if 2020 is selected, then the map displays the change in capacity from 2019 - 2020).

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Definition:

‍This maps shows the change of Early Child Education (ECE) providers

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Data Source:

‍Mass Department of Early Education and Care

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Footnote: All the ECE centers are licensed by Mass Department of Early Education and Care. All the ECE providers are currently within their license effective period, however, due to the limitation of the data source, we do not include the information about whether the center is operating or not.

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